North Huron SADD learns life lessons in mock trial

TRACI ANDERSON

Published
8:00 pm EDT, Sunday, May 2, 2004

The students, with some help from various officials, put on a mock trial recently at the high school. The trial was about a fictitious situation in which a teenage driver was being prosecuted for driving under the influence. The driver had been in a non-fatal rollover accident that injured another teenage passenger. The fictitious accident happened on prom night.

While many of the parts in the mock trial were played by students, various officials also played important parts: Huron County Assistant Prosecuting Attorney Gerald Prill played the part of the judge; Huron County Prosecuting Attorney Mark Gaertner and Assistant Prosecuting Attorney Liz Weisenbach coordinated the trial and trained the students; and attorney Dave Herrington and Huron County Sheriff's Office Deputies Ryan Swartz and Randall Britt provided assistance.

This is the first time the students did a mock trial, said SADD co-advisor Mary Ann Kelly. Sharry Nesbit is the other co-advisor for the group.

Kelly said the goal of the mock trial is to warn the students about the dangers of drinking and driving.

"We like to do something cautionary right before prom season," she said. "The students were very respectful and attentive. They took it seriously. They thought it was useful and it seemed to make an impression on them."

She noted that the students did a very good job of acting out their parts.

"It was academy award material," she said. "They were wonderful."

Fourteen students participated in the mock trial. Jessi Pratt and Brittany Brinkman played prosecuting attorneys; Melissa Roberts and Anastasia Nienaltowski played defense attorneys; Melissa Zarodkiewicz played a police officer; Becca Nesbit played an eye witness; Shannon Scott played a car passenger; and Tricia Maxwell played the defendant. The jury members were Rosemary Rice, Victoria Osantoski, Beth Korleski, Heather Miller, Jessi Teague, and Aubrey Selaty.